Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Second rate reporter says what?

You can’t love your country only when you win.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

I really should read my own blog.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day

by | 132 Comments

This post is in: 

So we had some Henry-based excitement here yesterday, though not in a good way.  And then I apparently got to relive the experience last night in dream after dream after dream.  My own personal groundhog day!

Spoiler alert: happy ending.

If You Love Ducks, Dogs and Cats, Garden Pics and Political Spats

Sure he looks innocent, but don’t let that fool you!

So I had someone in yesterday to vacuum and wash all the floors in the house, and because I’m still really cautious about Covid, I was in the carpeted sunroom with the glass door closed.  After an hour, I came out to check to see if she needed anything, and Henry wanted to hang out with her when I went back to the sunroom.  I was fine with that.

She had been there for an hour and had her vacuum and everything she needed, so she wasn’t going anywhere.

She knows that when she comes in and when she leaves, I have to pick Henry up and hold him so he won’t run out the door.  (You can see where this is going, right?)

Anyway… after 20 minutes or so, I come out to get ready for the vet appointment at 9.  I look around, and I say “Where’s Henry?”  Then I see that the french door to the outside is wide open.  Oh my god.  Oh my god.  Oh my god.  Her car is parked behind mine, so I ask her to move her car and I grab the key and as I was about to pull out, she is at my car window saying something to me, so I roll down the window. She said she was so sorry and the best I could manage was to blurt out “What were you THINKING?”

I start driving slowly around the neighborhood looking for him, with the window down and of course calling for Henry.  Nothing in any direction.  Eventually I realize that I don’t have my phone with me, and I want to call the neighbors across the street to see if they will help me look for Henry, so I drive back to the house.  I grab my phone, call my neighbors, and I’m heading back to the car when I see a flash of white and Henry is across the street.  The cleaning person had spotted him and was chasing him toward the busy road (not helpful to chase a dog when you want to get a dog to stop running) and she hadn’t even called out to me to let me know he was in sight, at least.

So she’s chasing him from house to house and I am calling his name.  He runs across the street to the house a couple of doors down.  I crouch down and call his name, Hen-ry!  Hen-ry!  Hen-ry!  Hen-ry!  He stops, looks at me, takes a moment to ponder whether he is going to keep running toward the busy street, or come to me, and he finally runs to me, lays down and rolls over so I can pet his tummy.

Whew!  I am still stressed just thinking about it.  I didn’t sleep well last night; I probably woke up a dozen times.  I kept having dreams all night that Henry had somehow gotten out of the house and I am trying to find him and get him to come to me.

All I am thinking about as I was looking for Henry was oh my god, I am going to lose Henry.  I am going to lose Henry exactly one year to the day after I lost Tucker.  Oh my god.

Thank god for happy endings.

Totally open thread.

Reader Interactions

132Comments

  6. 6.

    zhena gogolia

    Thank you for telling us the ending first!

    I find if I want to watch a miniseries that might have violence, I first read the Wikipedia plot summary. I’m too old to worry about spoiler alerts.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty: She felt terrible,  I told her that, on the bright side, I am confident that she won’t be making that mistake again!

    When I went to pay her she said I didn’t have to pay her for the cleaning.  I said of course I was going to pay her.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    Sheesh, glad it worked out!
    Had a serious dad moment when my kid and I took our new adoptee Gracie for a walk around the block. Kid was perhaps six, doggo was an estimated two. We return to the house and Gracie manages to slip away and fly down the street, quickly out of eyesight.
    What to do? Dog does not know the neighborhood, does she even know to stay out of traffic? But the kid is young and seldom on her own. Dad decides to tell the kid “stay right here” on the front lawn and I go after the dog. Eventually caught and hauled the dog back (from more than a block away in some yard), gathered them both up and inside.
    I later was informed by Mom that this was a Bad Dad Move but frankly, IDK what my options were. “Sorry sweetie, there are plenty of Dalmatians out there. We can just get another.” I think she was afraid of all those Comet Pizza fiends, hiding in the corner taco trucks.​

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: I know.  My sister is the worst about that.  She will start telling story that’s clearly alarming, alarming detail after alarming detail, and I have to interrupt and say “Is Bev okay?” or whatever is appropriate so I am not imagining the worst.

    Sharing the play-by-play is fine, sometimes we need that to help process something, but you don’t need to have people worrying as they are listening to you.

  13. 13.

    NotMax

    @RedDirtGirl

    360,000? Pikers. (Emphasis added.)

    Hyundai and Kia are offering free software updates for millions of their cars in response to a rash of car thefts inspired by a viral social media challenge on TikTok.
    [snip]
    Approximately 3.8 million Hyundais and 4.5 million Kias are eligible for the software update free of charge, for a total of 8.3 million cars. Vehicle owners are instructed to take their cars to a local dealership, where technicians will install the upgrades in less than an hour. The upgraded vehicles will also get a window decal indicating they’ve been equipped with anti-theft technology. Source

  15. 15.

    trollhattan

    @RedDirtGirl: ​
    I keep expecting him to summon them all to The Gathering Place where the combined Teslas at last reveal their actual mission. Whatever that may be.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Poor guy has been through a lot. Hope he gets sorted out and is able to continue as senator. We all know what would have happened if this occurred before the election.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    As it’s Open Thread —

    Recently watched a French program set in 1899 wherein a respected medical doctor assured the person who consulted him that “Heroin is perfectly safe.”

  21. 21.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Depression is common after a stroke. It was probably a thousand times worse for him because he was going through it in public and, cherry on top, have Oz and the other RWingers make fun of him because a stroke is just so damn funny.

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ve been doing intensive training with both of my dogs, and one technique the trainer taught us that might help with Henry is the “touch” command. Have you heard of it? It seems stickier than “come,” though that could be due to the novelty…

    Anyhoo, what I do is hold a treat between my ring and middle fingers and say “touch!” The dog gets the treat when his nose touches my hand. After a while, you don’t have to treat them every time, but they’ll still come and touch your hand. The trainer says it’s specifically for a situation when the dog runs off and you need him to come not just near you but within grabbing distance.

    Might be worth a shot? It’s works on my two, but neither is a runner — if it weren’t for the alligators and other dangerous critters, I could walk my guys off leash because they stick with me.

  27. 27.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @RedDirtGirl: i honestly initially read that as ‘Apartheid Clyde recalled 360,000 tweets.’  Hope this gets him to go back to Tesla from Twitter. There just seems to be a lot of recalls recently. They’re still doing recalls on the Takata airbags in older Hondas and Nissans. One would think that would have all been taken care of by now.

  28. 28.

    Miss Bianca

    @Betty Cracker: Oh, is that what the “touch” command is about! I’m going to try that one with my little pupper. (Who is now crashed out at my feet, but is certain to wake up as soon as I have to go to my 2 pm Zoom meeting.)

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker: ​I like it!
    Have to remind myself in those situations when finally reaching the dog, to act utterly thrilled at our reunion despite truly wanting to “Why you little…” and go Homer on the critter.

  31. 31.

    Joy in FL

    I am so glad Henry is safe. And thanks for the spoiler alert. That was kind of you.

    and then for you to dream about it…. you get to experience multiple stress episodes.

    Henry is soooo cute!

  34. 34.

    RedDirtGirl

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Ugh. That sucks. I’ve really been struggling with my depression and have wondered if I might need to go that route. Interestingly, letting myself consider as an option it has freed me up to feel a bit more hopeful…

  36. 36.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @WaterGirl: I’ve heard variations on this, just having some next-level “come” command that the dog knows comes with extra-special treats. In our house I think the word would be “chicken”.

    But in fact I’m not sure anything would work for Sam (Beagle mix, and the Beagle genes are clearly dominant) if he was pursuing a squirrel, bunny, or random scent. He’s just too focused, and seems to have no awareness of cars or anything else when he’s on the hunt. So I’m absolutely terrified of him slipping loose.

    Last time he got loose was a couple of years ago. We were just fortunate that the bunny was running in circles around a neighbor’s yard and brought Sam occasionally within grabbing distance.

  37. 37.

    Betty Cracker

    @WaterGirl: I stoop down a bit (because my dogs are small) and hold my hand palm-out next to my side so they have to come even with where I’m standing.

  39. 39.

    CaseyL

    I was about to say, “Oh, poor Henry,” but then realized he probably thought it was a Great Adventure and So Much Fun.

    So: Poor WaterGirl!

    Very, very glad to hear it ended well.

    (He wanted to hang out where the cleaning was being done? That’s so unusual as to be suspicious: maybe Henry knew she’d leave a door open, and he wanted to be there to carpe that diem.)

  40. 40.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    BTW, Biden just gave his speech about the high-altitude objects. He said we’d upgraded our ability to spot such things at his order, and that’s why we spotted these new things. Alas, he didn’t mention extraterrestrials. One possibility he raised which kind of shocked me was that some might have been scientific experiments.

    I think I’d be pretty pissed if I were a laboratory that had spent years planning and constructing one of those experiments and had it suddenly shot down by the US military without warning. But on the other hand I would think you had to notify the FAA if you were going to be flying something in commercial airlanes. Still, Joe used the phrase “largely unregulated”.

    My conclusion: this still feels like a bit of a cover story. I think there’s something classified going on, which unfortunately means that a responsible government is not going to tell us.

  41. 41.

    The Moar You Know

     

    According to a statement from his office, John Fetterman has been hospitalized for depression.

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Not good news.

    Anyone have any idea what the Pennsylvania laws are regarding appointment of replacement Senators?  I have a bad feeling that is where this is going

    ETA:  apparently no appointments, it’s a special election.  Really not good.

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mai Naem mobile: Things are better, but it’s still a slog because we’re maintaining separation between them (via gates/doors or leashes) for their safety until we’re confident they can be around each other without fighting. This disrupts our lives in so many ways!

    I’m training them on muzzles (which for short-snouted dogs like mine resemble Crocs shoes!), and that will be the next phase. The idea is to get them comfortable wearing muzzles separately instead of just slapping muzzles on them and putting them in the same room, in which case they might associate something unpleasant with each other.

    I’m using Cheez Wiz to get them to voluntarily put their faces in the muzzles, and so far, The Power of Cheez Wiz works like a charm!

  45. 45.

    Chat Noir

    That face! I’m so glad all ended well. I know the feeling of having a pet get out!

    I’m concerned about John Fetterman now!

  47. 47.

    Betty Cracker

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Here’s the content of a post I trashed a while ago because I inadvertently squashed this one — it’s pertinent to your comment, so I’m glad to have the opportunity to recycle it. From Aviation Week:

    Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down By USAF

    A small, globe-trotting balloon declared “missing in action” by an Illinois-based hobbyist club on Feb. 15 has emerged as a candidate to explain one of the three mystery objects shot down by four heat-seeking missiles launched by U.S. Air Force fighters since Feb. 10.

    The club—the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB)—is not pointing fingers yet.

    But the circumstantial evidence is at least intriguing. The club’s silver-coated, party-style, “pico balloon” reported its last position on Feb. 10 at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska, and a popular forecasting tool—the HYSPLIT model provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—projected the cylindrically shaped object would be floating high over the central part of the Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. That is the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object of a similar description and altitude in the same general area.

    Whoopsie! The article says the balloons typically cost between $12 and $180 each, plus whatever it the tracker costs. I wonder how much the missile that took it out was worth.

  48. 48.

    Suzanne

    @WaterGirl:

    She will start telling story that’s clearly alarming, alarming detail after alarming detail, and I have to interrupt and say “Is Bev okay?” or whatever is appropriate so I am not imagining the worst. 

    Dude I hate this. I don’t want drama. I want information.

  50. 50.

    JPL

    The four-year-old grandson called Finch when he escaped X-mas eve and he came to him.   It was impressive because they normally ignore each other.

  51. 51.

    NotMax

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Aerial passersby nothing new.

    In 2021, a bipartisan group of lawmakers created a new office to investigate Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), their more modern name, citing the challenge they pose to U.S. national security. By late last year, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office — or AARO, pronounced “arrow” — was probing more than 500 sightings, according to an unclassified intelligence report. Source

    It’s the sensationalist wing of the media once again blowing things all out of proportion.

    Still trying to digest that in the case of the one over the Great Lakes the Pentagon admitted the first missile missed its target completely and fell into the water.

  54. 54.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    So glad Henry is okay!

    A couple of years ago Iggy decided to ignore my “wait” command and walk out the front door as I was leaving. I walked briskly behind him down the street and around the corner, where he got jumped by a stray dog. I grabbed Iggy’s collar with one hand and fought off the stray with the other, then walked him back home. Longest 30 minutes of my life.

    I was stunned but okay, so after a little while at home catching my breath, l ran the errand I had been planning to run.

    That evening it hit me — I almost lost Iggy. I cried for about half an hour.

    We never use the front door in my house now — we go out to the garage, make sure the dogs haven’t followed, then open the garage door and go out that way. We call the garage the Iggylock. Because never again.

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker:  You are always welcome to squish my posts!

    This was actually scheduled for 1 pm, but Cole put his up at 12:59, so I moved it back to 2.  Then people were still commenting on his post, so I moved it back to 2:30.

    You probably couldn’t figure out what the hell I was up to!  :-)

  57. 57.

    Paul in KY

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Glad he realized he had this problem and needed help. Having a stroke is just a bad bad thing. You know you’ll probably never get back to what you were & that has to be depressing, no matter what station in life you have risen to. My prayers are with him & his family.

  58. 58.

    karen marie

    I’m so glad Henry made it home safely.  The potential for this is why I took my dog trainer’s advice when our Lucy was a mere babe in arms to teach her and drill her and consistently adhere to a policy of dogs do not go through doors – in or out of the house – without verbal permission.  It’s also the reason I’ve always avoided terriers and stuck with spaniels.  Spaniels are much easier to convince there’s magic involved that prevents them going through an open door where terriers don’t give a fuck about your magic.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): Yeah, a family down the street had a very aggressive german shepherd.  I was walking Tucker one time and he came out of nowhere and attacked Tucker.  It’s all a blur and I’m not sure how we got away.

    Because what sticks in my mind is what happened when I got Tucker settled in at home (unhurt but frightened) and I walked back to the house and rang the doorbell.

    The fellow came to the door and blew me off, and I said “I don’t want to be that person who calls the police, but I’m perfectly wiling to… so if your dog is ever out again, unattended, without a leash, I will.

    “Oh, and fuck you!”  (that part was silent)

  61. 61.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    @Betty Cracker:

    one technique the trainer taught us that might help with Henry is the “touch” command.

    We’ve been doing that with our Ralphie and it’s working well, so we’ve started teaching Iggy, Muppet and Chauncey.

    (Yes, we’ve added a Ralphie. He’s a mini-schnauzer/chihuahua/dachshund(!) mix — a Schnauhuahuahund.)

  66. 66.

    Wolvesvalley

    @WaterGirl:

    Just editing the post, my resting heart rate went from 66 to 88!

    Just reading your post, I felt my blood pressure shooting way up! Sooooo glad you got him back!

    I hope you can sleep tonight.

    My second cat died on the same day my first cat did, October 27, 18 years later.

  70. 70.

    Paul in KY

    @NotMax: Jeezus!  I haven’t thought about that cartoon in 35 years! Haven’t seen one in at least that long. I never thought they were funny, though.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    @frosty:

    I blame it on having to wear a suit.

    On a previous job I had to wear a tux once every year. I rented one for a couple years and then found out how much they cost and bought one – actually not that expensive. And. IT FIT. An actual bonus over renting. Also I knew where it had been and what had been done (or NOT done) while wearing it. And I looked better standing in front of 400 people giving a speech. If only it had improved my speaking…..

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    @karen marie: ​Our pointer stays put when he wanders out an open door (but, see “squirrel” for exceptions) while our Dalmatians would simply bolt and fly. Every. Damn. Time.

  76. 76.

    Heidi Mom

    @The Moar You Know: According to Ballotpedia, if Fetterman resigns, PA’s governor (Dem. Josh Shapiro) would appoint a replacement, who would serve until the next general election.  That’s where it’s a little tricky, and as a PA resident I apologize for not knowing this:  According to our county elections bureau website, the election to be held in Nov. of this year is a “municipal election,” apparently meaning that the Nov. 2024 election would be the next “general election.” I think PA could manage to elect a Democratic senator in a presidential election year.

  78. 78.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    @WaterGirl: Good.

    We had a neighbor who used to let their dog roam the neighborhood all the time. Friendly dog, but when Iggy was recovering from heartworms and we had to keep his heart rate down, he saw the friendly neighbor dog wandering around while he (Iggy) was out for a bathroom break, and Iggy went supernova because he’s an aggressively friendly schnauzer. Not good — Iggy ended up at the emergency vet that night, unable to breathe.

    So yeah, I went full Karen — trips to Animal Control, who threatened them with citations and court proceedings because leash laws are a thing here. They kept that dog on their property after that. Moved away not long after. Good riddance.

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    @Ruckus: ​A tux is just a suit for a limited set of uses, and buying one that fits and is made of nice fabric makes a ton of sense.
    My tux experiences have all been as wedding party member and the fit would be, shall we say, suspect. (“If we make the waist adjustable from 30 to 44 inches, we can stock just one size!”) Between the fit and being clad in petroleum, it’s a long day.
    Had a bespoke silk suit for my nuptials the the groomsmen wore whatever they wanted. Bridesmaids wore matching silk mini-dresses, which was fine by me.​

  83. 83.

    Gravenstone

    @NotMax: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs)

    My physics professor called them Unidentified Optical Phenomena (UOP), since you obviously could see them. I always preferred that.

  84. 84.

    Ruckus

    @RedDirtGirl:

    I was a mental health counselor for 4 yrs.

    It’s never easy to be on the other side of that.

    Asking for help is the first step.

    Accepting it is the second.

    Believing it is the goal.

    It is a revelation to get to feel better. And to help someone do that.

    Best of health to you.

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    @Paul in KY: “Volume!” :-)

    I’m informed by Wikipedia the Sidewinder series has been in service since 1956. In competition with the B52 who can last longest.

    Cost of cruise and ballistic missiles being rained on Ukraine is boggling. I wish the sanctions were more effective on Russia’s income stream.

  86. 86.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    The detail that kills me is when he goes back to you to roll over in order to get his tummy rubbed. He obviously trusts and loves you (of course), and that is what brings him back to you. I’m so glad you had a happy ending.  It must have been terrifying.

  90. 90.

    Ruckus

    @Paul in KY:

    I still looked like me. I’m not sure there is any help for that……

    @trollhattan:

    In the long run it was also much cheaper than renting. I gave it away when I left that job and never looked back. Now the only reason I wear pants that cover my knees is if it’s cold.

    Anyone need a Hart, Schaffner and Marx suit? Very nice black pinstripe 40 regular if I remember correctly I’ll let it go cheap?

  91. 91.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Gravenstone: I have cats, and have, through long experience, learned the way to catch a cat is a zen “don’t chase the cat to catch the cat” technique.  It depends on the cat liking/loving you (of course). You talk to them, but don’t chase them, and eventually, they will come back to you within grabbing distance.  You have to make sure they truly are within grabbing distance tho because with a missed grab you have to start all over! And then pet them like mad so they decide being caught is good.

  92. 92.

    geg6

    @The Moar You Know:

    Seriously?  He should step down because he has depression after having had a stroke, campaigning post-stroke and the let down after all that?

    I have had depression many times, often having to be treated by a professional.  I didn’t quit my job because of it.

  96. 96.

    NotMax

    @Paul in KY

    More in the realm of cute rather than funny.

    Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It did last in one form or another for over 80 years, finally folding up its tent in 2018.

  97. 97.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve never thought of Cheese Whiz as a dog treat but that’s a pretty good idea. I am going to try the touch method for my dogs who only listen if I yell loudly.

  98. 98.

    kalakal

    what a nightmare! I’m so glad it turned out well. Thanks for the spoiler alert.

    It’s such an awful feeling when a pet vanishes.

  99. 99.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Happy ending! What was adorable Henry thinking he was escaping? Henry, take it from me, you ain’t going to find anything better than the gig you got going with WaterGirl.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): It is indeed impossible to yell at Henry when he is on his back, his entire body wiggling, and why aren’t you rubbing my tummy yet?

    Not that I would have yelled at him anyway, it was all “what a good boy!”

    I rubbed his tummy, then picked him up and carried him inside, repeating “I was so worried about you” over and over, with tears.

  102. 102.

    WaterGirl

    @Sure Lurkalot: He always followed Tucker, so I was afraid he would have run and then run and then panicked and not have known how to get home.  That, and with street parking, it would be very easy not to see a little dog run into the tree.

    deep breath.

  105. 105.

    Gravenstone

    @trollhattan: When I was a teen, we had only recently gotten a new dog – some generic lab mix. One day soon after, a steer gets out of the enclosure and my stepdad is yelling at me to come help him herd it back to the barn, just be sure to keep the dog inside! I open the backdoor and of course the dog charges right past me and makes a beeline for the wayward beef. Stepdad is shouting at me and turning several shades of red. I’m watching the dog. Dog proceeds to cut the steer off then drive it back towards the buildings. Guiding the steer along the fencerow, taking the turn and running it right into the open front door of the barn. Then he comes trotting back out with what can only be described as a shit eating grin on his face and runs up to us for pets.

     

    Good boy!

  106. 106.

    trollhattan

    @Gravenstone: ​A very good boy!

    Out walking our pup at maybe four months when he did his first point for me. Bird in bush, I think. So adorable and either mom did magic in those first 12 weeks or it’s just hard-wired. I’m going with the second.

    It’s still humorous years later, especially when he points a bee.

  107. 107.

    cckids

    @WaterGirl:

    @karen marie:

    Spaniels are much easier to convince there’s magic involved that prevents them going through an open door where terriers don’t give a fuck about your magic.

     

    I laughed.

    Me too! Also the reason I only go for an easy-going dog personality. My very strong-willed daughter taught me that, for a child, I could fake it long enough so she got the lesson “there is a will stronger than your own”, I could never do it throughout a dog’s lifespan.

  112. 112.

    Ruckus

    @cckids:

    I had a Spaniel for a number of years, a rescue.

    Strongest willed dog I’ve ever known. After I’d had him about a month he came over and slept next to me. Well sort of on me/next to me. If I moved he’d growl at me. He was protective as hell and would eat anything. Grew hair at about the same rate as he exhaled. Which meant he had to be fully trimmed about once a month. Took him to 2 different groomers and they both told me, “Never, ever bring him back.” His name was Bud or Asshole, depending on the day. But he was also the most loyal dog I’ve ever known. He’s on last years calendar.

  115. 115.

    Leslie

    @trollhattan: I had a rescue dog once, already a senior when I got him, who was an English Pointer, and one day he pointed a cat that had wandered into the back yard. I suspect it’s pretty hard-wired.

  117. 117.

    Princess

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: you’re right to be suspicious. Yes, if you run high altitude scientific experiments, you need to tell the right people. My son was involved with one five years ago that was done under the NASA umbrella so it wouldn’t be accidentally shot down by the Russians or whoever. Of course we don’t know what kind of debris is floating around from old experiments.

  118. 118.

    karen marie

    @trollhattan:   It’s called “know your breeds.”

    Pointers were and are bred to stand still and point, whereas Dalmatians were bred to run out front – whether clearing the way for fire trucks or to chase wild boar.

    While spaniels were originally bred for hunting, their job was to stay with the hunter and then retrieve game once ordered.

    My spaniel is 3/4 Cavalier, 1/4 Cocker, so her strongest instinct is to find the nearest lap (the Cavalier part) while waiting for instruction (the Cocker part).

    I knew before I got my first dog that terriers and I were not going to be best mates.

  119. 119.

    NotoriousJRT

    So many of us who have loved a dog have been in the terrible spot that you were in when you realized Henry was not where he ought to be, and you had no idea where he was.  It is a dreadful, dreadful place.  Here’s how paranoid I can be: I sometimes imagine an escape even though I am the only one in the house with my little dude, and I haven’t opened a door or window since last laid eyes on him.  “He’s not where I expect him to be!  OMG!  In what kind of terrible fate has my inattention resulted?

    I am so happy Henry made the right choice and ran to you and away from the busy street!!!  Rest well tonight.

  122. 122.

    karen marie

    @Ruckus:   Was he a black Cocker?

    I’ve never owned one but I’ve known a few, and they’ve all been aggressive assholes.

    My understanding is that the gene pool for black Cockers is incredibly small, resulting in undesirable traits not found in the more common golden Cocker.  Although goldens can be also be assholes – not great with kids.

    I always kept an eye on my (golden) Cockers around kids.  I didn’t worry about Patty so much – as long as a kid would throw her ball, she didn’t care.  James, on the other hand, would quickly start to look panicked, so I closely supervised and limited direct interactions.

    When my current Cavalier/Cocker spaniel was young, she was perfectly happy to have babies or even toddlers smacking her with their tiny hands and pulling her hair and ears.  As she’s gotten older (she’ll be 13 in April this year) she mostly ignores kids (except those in possession of a snack) but tries to interact with any nearby adult – if we’re out walking and she sees a person she insists we wait until they come near enough to pet her.

  127. 127.

    Skepticat

    I’m SO happy Henry is all right and you’ve survived; I empathize completely. I went through much the same thing last fall when one of my cats lying on the sill of an open window leaned against the screen, which was old, and it tore–out he went, and the road was only 10 feet away. It was the middle of he night, and it wasn’t until he didn’t wake me for breakfast that I discovered he was gone. I prowled the whole (crowded, busy, heavily trafficked ) neighborhood, calling and asking everyone who walked by to keep an eye out. I put signs up and food out–and it turned out he apparently hadn’t gone farther than the far side of the next-door neighbors’ yard, where he was hiding under a bush. My nerves still haven’t recovered. And I’ve opened all the windows from the top rather than the bottom ever since.

  128. 128.

    Cathie from Canada

    One of our dogs, Molly, is also a joyful runner, and our other dog Ebony will happily go along with her. We now have a gate setup at the front door, and several additional fence arrangements in the back yard to close the loopholes they found.

    We also made sure they wear engraved tags on their collars, all leashes and car harnesses so if either gets away from us again anyone who finds them will have our name and phone.

    It already worked once for Ebony – a neighbour saw her running just as she was getting into her car so she called to Ebony “Want to go for a ride?” and Ebony jumped right into her car. She then called us as she was driving Ebony home

    I just pray this never happens again. I know what you mean about PTSD when it comes to being afraid of our dogs running away.

  129. 129.

    WaterGirl

    @Skepticat: Oh my god.  Total panic.  That sounds so scary.

    My cat got out exactly once, after the tree fell on my house.  During all the repairs, for 6 months, the contractors were great.  Whatever room the cats were in, they wrote CAT in huge letters with painters tape on the door.

    Unfortunately, I went with painters that weren’t THEIR painters, and sure enough they fucked up and I thought Mr. Bear had gotten out.  Total panic on my part.  Turns out they had taken the screen off a vent and Mr. Bear (black cat) had crawled way back in there and being black, he was not visible.  I can feel my heart rate going up just remembering the panic.

  130. 130.

    Ruckus

    @karen marie:

    Yes, pure black. As he aged he started to do as I’ve done, gray it up.

    As I said a good one person dog, as long as that person was the dominate animal. Which I am with a dog that requires it. One of my neighbors lost his german shepard a while back and went and got another, about 6 months old. Dog must be on some sort of natural upper as she has more energy than any 2 other dogs I’ve ever known. But she takes commands from me often better than her owner. Have to use the correct voice. Works every time I can manage to find that voice.

  131. 131.

    J R in WV

    @Betty Cracker:

    Whoopsie! The article says the balloons typically cost between $12 and $180 each, plus whatever it the tracker costs. I wonder how much the missile that took it out was worth.

    AIM-120 AMRAAM costs about $1,000,000 per unit…   

    ;~)

  132. 132.

    SteverinoCT

    I had two cats with a cat flap in Florida, but when I brought them north there were too many strays and raccoons and woodchucks around; they were about two years old but adapted readily to life in a one-bedroom apt with a small screened-in porch. They would go across the hall to visit with the neighbor and her cats, and once in a while I’d leave the door ajar so they could roam the stairwell. One time they weren’t there: some friendly soul must have let them out. I opened the front door and called, and one came right in. I gave it another hour and called again from the open door, and the other came from under a car and strolled in. They were both cool; knew where they lived, and were just checking around.

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